Triboluminescence
by Cassiopeia'sFreckles
Summary: Triboluminescence; the emission of light caused by contact. With darkness all around them, together they made light. Link X Male Sheik
1. Chapter 1

Hi. Firstly, thanks for deciding to give my first attempt at fan fiction a try, I hope you enjoy it. I'd also like to point out that I don't own Legend of Zelda, or any of the characters associated with it.

This story does involve a male Sheik who is an entity in his own right, completely separate from Zelda. I know this isn't to everyone's tastes, and if it isn't your cup of tea then maybe this isn't the story for you.

Thanks once again.

* * *

He woke up to gentle fingers tending wounds and soft humming. It was a beautiful noise somewhere between contralto and tenor, smooth and sweet. He didn't recognise the tune but he didn't really care. Eyes kept shut he tried to move, nothing big, just moving his arms. Bad idea. Really bad idea. Terrible idea. Everything hurt. Even parts of his body that had no right protesting about arm movements. The humming stopped. That was almost as bad as the pain.

`Go back to sleep. You need to rest more, heal more.' He knew that voice. It was a sensible voice, going back to sleep sounded brilliant. A cool hand on his forehead and the return of the humming lulled him back into unconsciousness.

He woke again. It could have been seconds later or eons, he had no idea. There was no humming. No hands tying bandages or applying poultices. An edge of loneliness set in. This time he opened his eyes before attempting motion. He got an eyeful of pitted rock and stalactites. Cave said his brain. A cave, yes, but natural light? No. It was too soft for sunlight and still air hinted that he was far below ground. Instead his little world was awash with gentle phosphorescence that was beautiful but gave everything a sense of un-realness.

He braced himself, gritting his teeth, ready to make the transition from prone to sitting. It went a lot better than he was expecting. Link cast his eyes over his surroundings, definitely a cave and a pretty empty cave at that. He lay, roughly in the middle of the floor, cocooned in an assortment of travel bedding, some of which was his. Now the question of his whereabouts was semi answered it just left him wondering how he got there.

His last clear memories were full of water and shadows and hurt and blood. He shuddered. Perhaps it was better he didn't remember those things. He sincerely hoped that the answer he needed in the here and now didn't require him to delve into the past too much. He didn't hear the footsteps, didn't hear anything of the person approaching at all. For all the noise it made, it might as well have been a ghost in that skin tight body suit. Thankfully, it wasn't.

`You're awake again Hero.' Sensible voice's sudden appearance sent Link into autopilot. He was up, on his feet and braced for a fist fight. Feet planted firmly, shoulder width apart, fists up guarding his face and neck. His forearms and elbows ready to ward off any attacks to his upper body. Fierce blue eyes met placid red ones and Link did a very convincing impression of a deflating balloon, sound effects and all. The breath he'd been holding left him in one long drawn out raspberry of relief. His legs deemed that their duty had been carried out and gave way, dumping him unceremoniously back into his nest of bedding.

`Sheik?'

`You should stay laying down Hero, lest you reopen your wounds.'

`What?'

Sheik cocked a brow and pointedly looked down at Link's torso. Link followed his gaze. He was a mess of bandages. They wound around his midriff, up over his right shoulder and down the arm to his elbow. The fingers of his left hand were splinted together and ugly, puffy bruises ran all the way from his wrist to his upper arm. All topped off by a liberal scattering of shallow-ish nicks and cuts. His legs didn't seem to have fared much better but it was harder to assess the extent of the damage as, much to his relief, he was still wearing trousers.

`What happened to me? Why does none of this hurt?'

Sheik inhaled slowly. He didn't look at Link. He took his time in answering, crafting a suitable non-answer.

`You know what happened, the answer will come. As for the pain, there's probably enough red potion in you to knock out a Goron at the moment.'

`Oh.' Link fiddled with the blankets beneath him. He had been hoping that Sheik would tell him. Give him a neat summary so he didn't have to think about it. Frequently Link found that he preferred not thinking about the things he was doing. Or the things he had seen. Sometimes bravery came easier with less thinking and more blind faith in his abilities and those of the people around him.

One of the reasons he enjoyed the small moments of time he spent with Sheik was because the other boy never asked him about the details of what he'd done. Other people wanted grand tales of even grander heroics. They chose to ignore the dark parts of the story. However, the questions they asked forced Link look right at those shadows. Shadows. One shadow in particular. His shadow. Link swore stringing together the random collection of curse words he'd picked up during the course of his questing. Once the colourful flow of crudities dried up he closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands.

His fingertips reported further damages. Split lip, cut eye brow and what felt like the back-end of a black eye. Now, to add further weight to his unpleasant realisation, the ache rolled in like a new moon tide. It didn't matter that he was dosed up on enough potion to seeing the Scared Realm. Everything hurt. Everything always hurt. Nothing ever had enough time to heal. He didn't ever have enough time to wait for anything to heal properly. Nor did he have enough time to sleep properly and barely enough to eat properly. He'd been running on fumes when he started trying to navigate the Water Temple. By the time he found that bloody room and its awful shadowy overlord he was really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

He let out a strangled, frustrated moan. A hand rested on his shoulder.

`Go back to sleep Hero, rest, for once the world can wait.'

Link peered at Sheik through his fingers. A little voice at the back of this mind told him that the world really couldn't wait but he didn't listen to it. He shuffled back down into the pile of bedding and closed his eyes.

`Sheik?'

`Yes Hero.'

`Hum for me. Please?'

There was pause. The pause got longer. The pause was beginning to get long enough that Link though he'd said something wrong. And then,

`As you wish Hero.'

Sheik took a breath and began to hum. It was the same tune as before, gentle, slow and perfect. It didn't take Link long to fall asleep again. Sheik stood up. He really wished he could believe that the world could be kept waiting.


	2. Chapter 2

They ate together in silence. Link could only assume that Sheik had caught the fish and cooked them elsewhere in a place where the smoke wouldn't get trapped and slowly suffocate them. Not that he was hugely bothered to establish the origins of his meal. All that mattered was that it was there to be eaten. When he had woken up yet again it was to the tune of a growling stomach and hunger pains. Then, as if summoned by Link's gastric symphony, Sheik appeared suitable laden with food. Only when his stomach was full did Link broach the question that had been hanging over him since he'd woken.

`I have to go back there. I'm not finished with that place am I?'

Sheik sighed, 'no, you aren't.' It was only in his head that he added an apology, and he was sorry. Sorry for the things he was asking of Link. Sorry for not being able to enter those sprawling, labyrinthine temples with him. Sorry for all the ways he wished he could help but couldn't.

`I can't.'

`Can't what Hero?'

`Go back there. I can't.'

Link stared steadily at his lap. He wanted to stuff the words that had bubbled up his larynx back down. Burry them away, hide them; forget they had ever been said. He was the Hero, with a capital H and all the things that that implied. He was brave and bold, the kind of man who stared down death and didn't blink. Except here he was, blinking. He didn't say that he'd dreamt of drowning, of bleeding out, of broken necks and twisted, crumpled bodies. He couldn't talk about the nightmares because Heroes don't admit to being broken. Just like Heroes didn't have terrible, traitorous voices in their heads that whispered sweetly about giving up. Nor did Heroes experience fear gnawing away at their insides when the thought about the things they had yet to do.

Anger burst inside him, ugly and awful, like a bloated corpse bursting under a hot sun. He raged at himself, the anger turning inwards, burning and destroying. He wasn't the Hero, wasn't even a hero. He was pathetic, full of fear and bad voices, and he was doing the thing he hated to do more than anything else. He was thinking. Thinking about what had been and what was the come. He was supposed to have courage, to trust in himself and Goddesses, to act first and think later, all whilst looking dashingly handsome. If only he had never taken those stupid stones to the Temple of Time.

`It's all my fucking fault.' The words were hissed out from behind clenched teeth, 'I led Gannondorf to the Scared Realm and then I made everyone wait seven fucking years before I could even clean up my own mess.'

He slammed his unsplinted hand into the floor. Bones cracked. He did it again. The pain was white and jagged and made his eyes water. The pain was what he deserved. He raised his fist again. A body collided with his. Sheik pinned him to the floor, gently but firmly. Sheik's brows were drawn together, his eyes pained and his mouth pressed into a grim line. Sheik's mouth. Some part of Link's mind, disjointed from the rest of the world, registered that for the whole time they'd been in this cave together Sheik hadn't been wearing his cowl. He had a beautiful face.

`This isn't your fault Link. How could it be? You didn't know what would happen, no one could have known. You were just a child.'

Sheik gripped Link's arms tightly, using his body weight to hold the other boy down, his heart beating fast in his chest like a bird's. His usual stoic calm was gone and all formality absent. For the first time ever, Link registered that Sheik looked scared.

'And I'm not now?' The words came out so quietly they almost didn't happen at all.

Sheik's heart broke. Link was right, in truth he was still just a boy. They both were. This time he didn't hold the apology back.

`I'm sorry. Oh Goddesses Link, I'm so sorry. I don't . . . I can't . . . I . . . I'm sorry.'

Sheik rested his forehead on Link's shoulder and Link could feel the other boy's shaking. His anger had left him; it had ebbed away when he'd heard how scared Sheik was.

`I'm sorry. I'm sorry but you're the only one who can do this. Please. Please, we need you. Hyrule needs you, so don't . . . don't hurt yourself anymore, you don't deserve it. Whatever bad things you tell yourself, this,' Sheik sat back and laid a hand over Link's newly broken one, `this isn't the answer. It's never the answer.' His voice was low, full of a pain that spoke of scars formed from deep wounds, `so please, never again?'

Link closed his eyes and shook his head, `I'll try.'

Sheik sighed and stood up, it wasn't the answer he was hoping for but it would do for now. He moved away from where Link was lying and rummaged through a bag propped against one wall of the cave before returning with bandages and splints. He knelt beside Link and began to carefully splint broken fingers together. Link bit the inside of his cheek, as careful and Sheik was being it still hurt to have his fingers bandaged.

`I'll go back tomorrow.'

`But your hand' Sheik frowned down at him `you're not fully healed yet.'

`Red potion will fix it enough. If I don't . . . if I don't do this now, I never will.'

His fingers now tended to, Link sat up. He looked around the cave, there wasn't much to see. His eyes settled on the source of light in the room. From where he was he couldn't see what was creating the unearthly phosphorescence. With no knowledge of whether the sun was rising or setting at any given moment, Link realised he didn't know when tomorrow would even be.

`Sheik, how long have I been here?'

`Five days. It's been five days since I carried you out of that place, and it's been seven since you went in. I waited for you to come out but, you didn't. I feared you were dead. I thought you were when I found you.'

`I'm sorry Sheik.'

`What for?'

`For scaring you this much.'

Sheik didn't reply. Link looked at his hands, covered in crisp white bandages tied carefully, securely. Sheik had done a lot for him since he'd woken up in his older body. He had given help when it was needed; offered explanations when no one else would; he'd given Link space, and time think when he needed it and he'd never made Link stir the sleeping demons he carried around in his head. And now, here Sheik was, carrying him out of dark places, literal and otherwise. If everything else failed, if all of Hyrule went to shit, Link would save Sheik, even if it killed him.

He kept this sentiment to himself. He knew that if he spoke about it people would object, including Sheik. Especially Sheik. They'd tell him that it would never come to that, that he should have faith in himself and the Goddesses. That even if it did, there were other people who he should protect, people like the princess or the sages or even himself. Link did like Zelda; she had a gentle quality, a kindness, which belied her youth. She would be the perfect queen, but they barely knew each other. Equally, the sages he had met so far were good people doing all they could to save their home, though the less time he spent with Ruto the happier he'd be.

However, none of these people had braved Hyrule field and all its dangers to meet him at temple entrances. None of them fought off monsters in order to be there to teach him the songs he needed or to give him hints and help. None of those people had entered that water logged hell hole believing they were searching for his corpse. None of those people were here with him now, covered in bandages and tearing himself apart, telling him that they were sorry, that they understood, but please, please, could he just hold on that little bit longer. Link knew, right to the core of his being, that whatever happened, he would make sure Sheik survived.

`Sheik,' the other boy looked up from the medical supplies he was sorting 'what's making the light?'

Link pointed over to the epicentre of the glow. Sheik stood, brushed off his knees and stretched. He walked over to the crevice in the wall that the light spilt out of and carefully picked something up, cradling it in both hands. He brought over to where Link sat, repairing his equipment, fumbling with aching fingers and holding back the pain with red potion. Link had to squint to be able to look at what Sheik was holding. It turned out to be two somethings. Two thumb sized crystals, translucent like quartz, nestled together in Sheik's palms.

`Have you got a lantern?'

Link nodded, unsure why they needed another light source when this one work so well, but he fished his lantern out and lit it.

`Good, now, these crystals have been used to make light by the Sheikah for centuries. They come from crevasse, in the mountain range around Mount Doom. You have to climb down a long way before you find them, so far down that you can't see the sunlight anymore and that's still not even close to the bottom. The crystals come in pairs but they don't grow next to each other. You have to find the right ones and bring them together, and when you do, they glow. They glow bright enough to light up any darkness. However, if you take them away from each other,' Sheik moved his hands, separating the two crystals, 'they go out.'

The cave was suddenly much darker, lit only by the fitful, flickering lantern flame.

`It's called triboluminescence, making light by bringing two things together. Each one is unable to shine without the other, only brilliant when they're together. Impa once told me that, when there were more of our people, these crystals were used for proposals. One lover would present the other with a pair and if the proposal was accepted then each half of the couple would carry one crystal with them always. Like a promise that, together, they would light up any darkness that either might face.'

Sheik gently rolled the crystals back together, light blossomed instantaneously. He carried them back to the crevice they had been sitting in, setting them down with care. Link doused the lantern. Had Sheik climbed down that crevasse, searching in the darkness for his own pair of crystals? Was he waiting for someone to present them to?

`You should finish seeing to your things Link, and then rest, tomorrow will be with us sooner than I think either of us would like.'

Link turned his attention back to the tunic in his lap. A smile tugged at his lips, not at the prospect of returning to the Water Temple, but because Sheik was calling him by name.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I feel I should point out that I have taken some artistic liberties with the actual nature of triboluminescence, in reality you need to smash or crush the appropriate crystals to make it happen. It's pretty cool but somewhat less romantic that way hence the change. There are videos on youtube of it if you're interested to see what it really looks like.


	3. Chapter 3

Tomorrow came. Sheik watched Link walk back into the wet darkness worry coiling away in the pit of his stomach. He was tired. He hadn't slept, though not for lack of trying, but every time he closed his eyes he imaged himself having to walk back into the temple, looking for Link. He had waited outside the last time, at first peacefully enjoying some time to relax. Next came the boredom, it was taking Link longer than usual. It was a little over a day since he had first gone in. Still, there was no need to worry yet, was there? As time dragged on, the waiting made eons out of minutes.

The anxiety began slowly, tendrils rising up and twisting around his stomach. He held them at bay, reassuring himself that Link knew what he was doing, that Link was competent; he had the Master sword after all. But fear crawled up and around his wards of logic and positive thoughts, slithered through cracks and undermined foundations. It started small, perhaps Link was having trouble with a puzzle, maybe he was lost, or had to take some time to let a minor injury heal. All reasonable concerns but nothing world shattering, nothing that Link could not handle, but anxiety is like a fire. It took shreds of Sheik's nightmares twisted them with his imagination and fed itself on the result.

It burnt him up, tore him to pieces and drowned him all at once. In his mind he watched Link die again and again and again. He desperately told himself that it wasn't real and that Link would walk out any second, but seconds marched past bringing no Hero with them. And with every one the things in his head became more and more real. He screamed at himself to get up, to move, to do _something_. But the weight of an invisible ocean held him down. He did not eat and he did not sleep. When the second day of waiting edged into the third he broke and worry gave way to anger. Anger he wanted to turn against himself for doing nothing while Link could be dying. Link could already be dead because of his inaction. Because he was pathetic and useless and small. However, instead of letting the tidal wave of fury turn into self-inflicted pain, he rode it, used it to propel himself to his feet and into the temple. Because he had promised them, Impa and Zelda, promised them that he wouldn't let himself do that anymore. There would be no more scars added to those that raked up his arms.

The place was a maze and severely tested Sheik's ability to hold his breath but eventually he found Link. Found him face down on top of a red stain. Sheik's stomach lurched and he made a noise like a dying animal. He scrambled over to Link, tripping over his own feet and smashing his knees into the stone floor. He fumbled for a pulse, trying to remove Link's gauntlets before giving up and pressing his fingers to Link's neck. Sheik held his breath. His chest started to burn, his lungs desperate for air, and tears began to puddle in the corners of his eyes. Then he felt it, faint and struggling but definitely a pulse. He took a huge, shuddering breath and gently rolled Link over. He had to bury his head in his hands when he saw the mess Link had been turned into.

After a few more breaths Sheik set aside his feelings, slipping into the well-worn Sheikah cold calmness that served him so well. He removed the bandages from his wrists and used them to dress the worst looking wounds. When those were used up he took off his cowl and shredded it, binding up the remaining cuts. That done his mind turned to how to get them both out of that awful place and somewhere safe. He couldn't take Link out the way he had come, that would likely end up with both of them drowning, but there was no was no was Sheik could see to get out without having to swim. Except there was, and Sheik was being an idiot. He sat down and awkwardly pulled Link into his lap before reaching to the lyre strapped to his back. It was difficult, playing around another body but he managed it, plucking out the Serenade of Water. He wrapped his arms tightly around Link as he felt the magic take hold and return them to the temple entrance. It was from there that Sheik carried Link to the safety of the caves.

Now, here he was again, waiting. He was worried, he couldn't deny it, he didn't think he could bare going back into that place. He could only imagine how it must be for Link. The things that had been said in the cave bothered Sheik. He was scared that Link might have begun walking down a path that led to darker places. Sheik knew that road. All his life he had carried with him two things. The sorrows of his race, of a people he never even knew, slaughtered in a war that wasn't theirs and a deep aching emptiness. He had always felt he was one piece of a whole, but that he had lost all the other parts long before he was born.

He trained hard with Impa, who always said she was his aunt but Sheik was never sure if that was true, and became accomplished in the ways of his tribe. No matter how hard he tried though, he never filled that emptiness. Carrying it around with him meant that one day he looked at himself and found he deep in the darkest place he'd even been. A place where things whispered using his voice, telling him to let go, to give up and to leave behind a world that had only ever hurt him. He'd dragged himself out of that darkness, every inch a battle, and he had the scars to prove it. Getting the crystals was one of the first things he did after he'd found the light places again, a promise to himself that he would never get lost in the dark again.

He still carried the emptiness around with him, like a weight settled on his shoulders, except now he refused to let it bring him to his knees. It got harder though, as the state Hyrule was in deteriorated the weights on Sheik's shoulders began mounting up. He felt like Atlas holding up the sky, the whole firmament resting on him alone, and should he drop it, the world would shatter. Then, the Hero woke up. Sheik remembered seeing him for the first time; he made the world seem brighter just for being in it. Everyone who saw Link felt it, they just knew without any doubt that he would save them. He made everyone feel at peace, and lifted the worry and fear from them. As soon as tired red eyes met clear, bright blue ones Sheik felt the burden lessen, not gone, but shared, so he was no longer alone in holding up the sky.

It took him a while to realise that Link made him feel less empty, and the longer they spent together the more the ache faded. Sheik was aware of what the Hero meant to him, of what Link meant to him, but he kept his feelings inside. Not because they scared him or because Link might not return them but, because with all the things that were going on, there didn't seem to be the time to express them. While they were spending their days staring down death it felt wrong to want someone. As much as it hurt, Sheik knew there was no time for his feelings to be acted upon. So instead he carried out his duty, he guided and waited and prayed he would never have to bring Link back from the edge of life ever again.

The sun was heading towards setting when Link came out of the temple, Sheik walked over to meet him.

`Alright?'

`Yeah,' Link nodded, 'just, kind of tired.'

Sheik shook his head, smiling, tried was an understatement Link looked asleep on his feet.

`Come on; let's get you somewhere you can sleep.'

Sheik stepped forward and slid his shoulder under Link's arm. He felt strange, kind of inebriated, drunk on relief that Link had walked out of the temple a little scraped up and clearly exhausted, but alive.

`Wha-'

`Shhhh,' Sheik cut Link off, grinning at him `just shut up, and let me take you somewhere safe.'

Link Looked at Sheik, uncomprehending, too tried to know what was going on. Sheik was more or less holding him up, it felt kind of nice, and it seemed that he was a lot stronger than his slight frame would suggest. On the way back to the caves Link fell asleep standing up, forcing Sheik to carry him the rest of the way.


	4. Chapter 4

Link woke up back in the caves, this time near the entrance as he could see tendrils of natural light seeping in. He was alone. His bandages were fresh though, and a scrap of paper lay on top of his things. It seemed like Sheik was back to his disappearing acts. Link sighed and shuffled over to the note, his body protesting all the way.

 _I'm sorry. I wanted to stay but there are things I have to do, ones that won't wait no matter how much I want them too. See you at the next temple, I'll be waiting._

Link wanted to be mad. He wanted to feel angry at Sheik for leaving while he was asleep, for not saying goodbye properly, for never saying goodbye properly. Instead there was just a tiny, quiet pain that echoed, shyly, around the empty cavern that should contain all his feelings. He couldn't even pretend he was angry because he understood. This whole, ridiculous, shit storm of horror demanded so much from both of them. There was no time to rest, no time to stay and wait for your friend to wake up so you can say goodbye. No time to be with the one person who knew what it was like to live this life, the one person who understood.

Rage exploded in Link, suddenly the emptiness in him was bursting at the seams with fury so hot it burned blue. All of this, _all_ of this catastrophe and _all_ of the pain everyone felt, was because some cock-faced puke green fuck-biscuit thought he could tramp his giant mouldy arse into the scared realm and just take it. Link stood up, settling his pack over his shoulder, anger drowning out the left over aches and pains. Fuck Ganondorf, fuck him and everything he stood for. It was time to get back to work, time to end this, even if it killed him. And, if it did kill him, at least he would be free.

He spent some time walking across Hyrule, fighting off monsters and helping those that needed it. He'd started to recognise the light that came into people's eyes when they saw him. It was hope. The rumours of a hero in green were spreading and they were like water to a man dying of thirst. The people needed a hero, they needed him. Their need was a source of mixed feelings for Link. Helping them, bringing them hope, seeing that light in their eyes when he arrived made him happy, it made things more bearable. But the fact that they needed a hero at all hurt. Since his conversation with Sheik in the cave he'd found it easier to remind himself that it wasn't his fault, but the fear was always there.

He missed Sheik. He was a little ashamed of how much he missed the other boy, he was sure that before their time in the cave he'd hadn't been so afraid to go to sleep alone. He was pretty sure he didn't used to have so many nightmares too. They were always more or less the same. Nightmares of what happened under the lake and of what it would have been like to have been the one waiting. To have been the one that had gone into the temple thinking they were looking for a corpse. To have been the one to go into that room and actually find a corpse. It was becoming quite clear to him that what scared him more than anything, more than any of the things that could happen to him, were the things that could happen to Sheik. Equally alarmingly, though in a very different way, were the dreams he had in which Sheik was very much alive. There seemed to be things that Link's body wanted that his conscious mind didn't want to acknowledge.

It had been a week since he'd completed the Water Temple when he headed back to Kakariko so he could resupply and maybe spend a night sleeping in a proper bed. He knew that wouldn't happen when he saw the smoke. He ran the rest of the way to the village, and things were as bad as he feared they might have been. Kakariko was on fire. The villagers were evacuating, carrying their belongings away from the blaze. Link ran to the well, he had to try to stop the fire. As he turned the corner toward the well he was able to discern a figure through the smoke.

`Sheik?'

The figure turned round, eyes wide above a bright white new cowl.

`No! Link, run!'

The well exploded. Link threw himself to the ground, arms wrapped around his head. All he could hear was a high pitched whine and the smoke and stone dust made it almost impossible to see. He scrambled back to his feet, ready to fend off whatever had come out of the well. Something came out of the haze, flying toward him. Link's hand went to the grip of the Master Sword, and then immediately left it. He watched as Sheik's body emerged from the clouds of dust and collided heavily with the side of a building. Link's breathing was ragged, his heart and stomach had a contest to see which could plummet fastest. He stumbled a couple of steps towards the crumpled heap his friend had become, but before he could cover the distance something else came haring out of the dark. He tried to draw his sword but shock made his movements slow. As he fumbled with his weapon the thing descended. There was pain, and then there was darkness.

He came to with a headache. He was laying in what felt like a bed and, much to his head's disapproval, in a patch of light coming through a gap in the curtains. Link groaned as he rubbed his forehead.

`So, you're awake then.'

He turned his head toward the voice, hissing as movement made the ache worse. Sheik sat on the floor near the bed, a book settled in his lap. He looked worse than Link felt. He wasn't in his usual body suit, just a pair of loose cotton trousers instead. One arm was held in a sling across his bare chest which was covered in bruises and abrasions. Despite the state it was in seeing the naked expanse of chest made Link's face feel hot. Sheik's cowl and head wrap were gone, and his hair was pulled back into a small ponytail making his black eye startlingly obvious. Link sat up slowly, trying not to aggravate his brain any more.

`Are you . . . are you alright?'

It sounded kind of lame and as soon as he had said it Link wished he hadn't. Sheik started to chuckle but it quickly became a wince. There must have been broken ribs under those bruises.

`No. Not even close. I'm supposed to be resting in another room but I heard them say you were here and . . . and unconscious so I've been sneaking out to make sure I'd be here when you woke up.'

Neither of them commented on the silent `if you woke up', neither one wanted to acknowledge that it could have been a possibility. Sheik took a breath and carried on,

`I had to leave before you woke up last time so I figured that I'd make up for it now. I'm sorry.'

`It's okay. I know there are things you have to do.'

Link knew there were about a thousand other things he could say, things that would fill the growing silence, but none of those things wanted to present themselves for saying. He looked down at his lap, he felt awkward. He was very aware of Sheik's toplessness and unhelpful recollections of his dreams and nightmares kept drifting through his mind. His head hurt and he was frustrated by his inability to speak, concerned about Sheik's injuries and confused by his oddly strong desire to touch him. So many things were fighting for room in Link's battered brain that suddenly words sprang forth, unchecked.

`I missed you.'

Link's eyes widened, his conscious mind surprised by what his unconscious one had spewed out. It was true, he had missed Sheik, and he knew that, he had carried the loneliness around with him for the past week. Along with the fear for Sheik's safety and an aching desire to be reunited with him. He looked over to the other boy, searching for a reaction to his outburst. Slowly, the corners of Sheik's mouth turned up the small smile quickly became a grin.

'I missed you too.'

Link grinned back. Everything he'd been thinking about and worrying over was pushed aside and something else took their place. It was bright and happy and made out of all the things that Sheik had always made him feel, all the ease and safety and comfort and understanding and comradery from before, but more and mixed with new things that Link didn't have words for. He could feel himself looking at Sheik differently, and he knew it looked exactly the same as how Sheik looked at him.


	5. Chapter 5

It hadn't been long after Link woke up that one of the villagers in charge of the casualties from the fire came into the room, summoned by the sound of their stilted conversation. They were both thoroughly scolded for exerting themselves unnecessarily and Sheik was escorted back to his room. The next morning Link was given a once over, and save for his headache and an impressive lump on the back of his head, he was deemed healthy. After collecting his belongings together he went to find Sheik. It wasn't particularly difficult, the largely undamaged inn had been transformed into a make shift hospital for those hurt during the fire. All Link had to do was poke his head into the various rooms until he found the right one.

Sheik's attic room had, until a few days ago, been used as the inn's linen storage. It was light and airy and smelt like clean washing. Much to the consternation of the nurse he'd moved his bed so that it was directly under the window, giving him much better light for reading. It had been a long time since he'd any time to even think about picking up a book, as a child he'd rarely been without one. Zelda used to tease him for reading so much fiction but slipping into worlds described on pages helped him set aside his feelings that he was missing something. The way that the legends and stories spoke about destiny and fate and people born with purposes so much bigger than they could image appealed to him. Perhaps his emptiness was a sign that he was meant for something great, the marker of his destiny like the story characters had prophecies or were born with magical symbols on their bodies. He wondered what the young Sheik would have made of his life now. Here he was, being a part of the saving of Hyrule, carrying out his duty as guide to The Hero, getting barely any sleep, living off whatever he could find and constantly nursing injuries. It was hardly glamourous, but it was his life, and there were definitely good things about it. The door creaked open and one of the good things poked his head through the opening gap.

`Sheik?'

Sheik smiled, `Hello Hero.'

Link stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him.

`We're,' Link exhaled awkwardly, ` we're not back to me being Hero are we? I . . . I like you calling me Link.'

`No, well maybe sometimes, but it's not a formality, not anymore.'

Link grinned and oh Goddesses it wasn't fair. It had never occurred to Sheik, as he waited for The Hero to wake from his seven year stasis, that Link would emerge so beautiful. His internal organs had hit the deck in the most unsettling way they could the first time he'd seen Link. Initially the way Link made him feel made Sheik incredibly uncomfortable and he kept his cold wall of Sheikah calm firmly in place. But it didn't last, and the more he saw Link the more he wanted to see Link. The day he realised that being in The Hero's presence made the empty ache fade was the day he gave up trying to keep his distance. He was in deep and he didn't honestly care. Still, he kept his feelings to himself; there were more important things at stake than one young man's heart.

`So, to what do I owe the pleasure then Link?'

Link set down his pack and settled on top of one of the remaining linen chests.

`I wanted to see if you were alright, and, to ask what was that thing?'

Sheik bit his lip, pausing to think through his answer,

`I'm fine, or they say I would be if I stopped wondering about and let myself heal.' Sheik smiled, flippant, Link frowned, disapproving. `As for the thing in the well, it's an evil spirit that Impa sealed away down there years ago. But, over the years, it must have gotten stronger, strong enough to break the wards.' Sheik shook his head, `We're . . . well, we're very lucky we're not dead. Impa's gone into the Shadow Temple to try and seal it again but,' there was a pause, more lip chewing went on, `I'm worried about her, which is insane, Impa can handle pretty much anything, it's just, well, she's a sage and if. . . if she dies. . .'

Sheik didn't finish the sentence, he didn't have to, they both knew how bad things would get if one of the Sages was killed.

`Where's the temple? I'll go there now.'

`In the graveyard, but Link, you were unconscious yesterday, is this a good idea?'

`I don't think I've got a choice, Impa has already been in there alone long enough.'

Sheik swore, this wasn't fair on Link, it was never fair on Link and it was maddening. It wasn't fair for him either. He didn't think he could take another round of waiting. He let out a grunt of frustration and punched his pillow for good measure before holding out a hand.

`Pass me my lyre please.'

Link climbed off the linen chest and handed Sheik his instrument before fishing his ocarina out of the pouch it lived in. Sheik plucked a few strings, checking the tuning was still good,

`It's time for you to learn the Nocturne of Shadows.'

Sheik began to play and it wasn't long before Link joined in. Sheik was always amazed at Links' ability to play by ear, especially as it had taken Sheik several years to learn all the pieces by heart. It seemed like Link had a natural proficiency for music that Sheik did not. His abilities were the product of years of practicing until his fingers would bleed. His tenacity in learning to play had surprised Impa who didn't know it stemmed from Sheik's desire to be like the people in his books. The day Impa had told him that he had a purpose, a task, a destiny, he'd seized it and promised himself he'd never let it go. He had to learn to play to fulfil his purpose and over time, he'd come to love the music for what it was as well as what it represented.

The piece came to an end. Sheik looked at the lyre in his hands, the instrument that had helped him save Link's life, he loved it and the sounds it made but he wished they didn't send Link into the dark places they did. He looked up meeting Link's gaze. Sheik looked away again. There was no way he could hide how much this hurt with a convenient deku nut explosion.

`Good luck Link. I'll be waiting.'

`I'll be as quick as I can.'

Link turned to go, picking up his pack again. Sheik's nerves were already beginning to turn his insides to knots. He was just sitting there as Link left to literally plunge himself into the shadows. There had to be something he could do to stop the darkness swallowing the other boy whole. Some way that he could make sure Link would always have light when he needed it. Light. Of course, light!

`Wait' Sheik threw himself over the side of the bed, fumbling through his belongings, `take these.'

He pulled a small roll of cloth from his things. It looked like a weird scroll, with each end rolled in to meet the other in the middle, and tied around the middle with a wide strip of ribbon. Sheik untied the strap and unrolled the cloth on the bed before gently picking it up, contents and all. Link turned, stepping back towards the bed, and away from the door. When he was beside Sheik he could see what it was cradled in the cloth wrapping. It was the pair of crystals that had brought light to the cave.

`Take these with you, that way, no matter how dark it gets you'll always have light.'

Sheik didn't look at Link as he held the crystals out to him. He couldn't stop the voice in the back of his mind from reminding him what it meant to offer them to someone. He desperately hoped that Link had forgotten that bit of his explanation about the crystals. Link looked down at the items held out for him. His heart was beating faster than he felt it reasonably should. He kept hearing Sheik's voice in his head, telling him about the crystals. Surely Sheik was just offering them as a gift, or a loan, like a friend. But what if, what if that wasn't how he wanted it to be, what if, for once, he had to chance to get what he wanted? And what was it that he wanted? He wanted more time with Sheik, he wanted to know that he would be there whenever Link needed him, and he wanted them to be able to be together without worrying about the things they had to do. He wanted Sheik.

Link reached out, picking up a single crystal. Sheik's gaze had followed his hand, but as soon as he'd only taken one crystal it shot up to Link's face. Very, very wide red eyes met uncertain blue ones.

`I'll take this one so that,' Link took a breath, unsure where the words were coming from, but comforted by the honesty of them 'so that whenever I find myself lost in the dark you can be the one who brings me the light.'

Sheik's brain stopped, but his heart thundered. His mouth moved like there should be words coming out but there were none. The silence started to make itself obvious. Link's gaze dropped to the floor and Sheik began to panic. His body saved him. He launched himself from the bed at Link, his bruised and broken bones telling him he'd regret it later. His good arm hooked itself around Link's neck and he brought their lips together. It was not a well-executed kiss, sloppy and desperate with a little too much tongue and tooth, but the message it carried was clear. The broke apart to take a few much needed gasps of air. Sheik rested his forehead against Link's,

`I promise, I promise that whenever you need me I will come. No matter how dark, I will bring you light.'

Link smiled, 'and I you, Sheik, and I you.'

They kissed again, this time with more finesse. Sheik's hand twisted into Link's hair, dislodging his hat. Link wrapped his arms around Sheik, who broke the kiss by hissing violently in pain.

`Goddesses, Sheik, I'm sorry, your ribs.'

Sheik grimaced, crumpling back down onto the bed,

`It's alright, I'll be fine, I probably shouldn't have thrown myself on you like that.'

Link blushed a little, `probably not, but I'm glad you did.'

Sheik laughed before he could stop himself, wincing as it made the pain worse. Link knelt at the side of the bed and took hold of Sheik's hand,

`Will you be alright? I don't . . . I don't want to leave but, well . . .'

Sheik squeezed the hand that held his, `I'll be fine, I just need to be patient and let it heal, and I know, I don't want you to go either but, this time, I don't think things will wait. Just promise me you'll come back.'

`I will, I promise.'

They held hands for a little while longer before Link stood, retrieved his hat and gently kissed Sheik goodbye. Sheik braced himself for the waiting, it would be terrible, with so much more on the line now than ever before, but this new thing, this new love they were risking made the entire world seem brighter.


	6. Chapter 6

The waiting was terrible. At one point Sheik climbed out of the attic window and went to the graveyard. When they found him, he had to be taken back to the inn by force and placed under house arrest. It drove him mad, just sitting there, trying to ignore his chaperone who sat by the door. He took all the red potion they would let him have, willing his bones to mend faster. They didn't, they couldn't, all the scrapes and injuries he'd suffered since Link had woken up meant that Sheik's body was being pushed to its limits. It didn't help that he couldn't sleep, couldn't bear the nightmares, the terrible dreams fueled by the fear that, by being trapped here, he was breaking his promise to Link. Still, at least the horrors in Sheik's dreams were just dreams; the ones Link was facing were undeniably real.

Link wasn't sure which he hated more, the Water Temple or this one. The longer he stayed in it the more it messed with his head, making real things seem fake and fake things real, the only upside was the Ruto wasn't anywhere in sight. He sighed before rubbing his face with his hands, he knew couldn't afford to give much more time to the break he was taking. He was sitting in the penultimate chamber, legs dangling down the hole that would take him to the monster that was waiting. He was torn, he wanted to end this soon, to get out of here and go back to Sheik but he was exhausted, having to second guess everything he saw had taken a toll on him. He reached into his bag, pulling out his last bottle of red potion. He uncorked it and took a small sip, it did its job, his mind became sharper and he felt less like he'd been wading through mud for hours. He put the bottle back and gritted his teeth, it was now or never. He pushed off, sliding down into the pitch dark tunnel, praying he could make the landing blind.

Sheik stood in the graveyard, he should still be in the inn healing but the nurse had given up trying to keep there. Instead he had gathered his things, hidden his bandages beneath his bodysuit and come here, to wait. Link had been gone for four days and Sheik felt like a ghost, he was pretty sure he'd worried himself to death a while ago. Now, everything just felt kind of numb, like he'd gone into suspended animation which could only be undone by Link's return. There was barely a moment passed where he didn't have his crystal clutched in his hand, believing that maybe, by holding it, he would be able to sense if Link was in trouble.

He stared down the entrance to the temple. As staring contested went, it was pretty boring, but eventually, Sheik's vacant, blank stare must have caused the entrance void to feel sufficiently uncomfortable to yield. The sound of footsteps trickled out first, followed, at last, by a grubby, worn out, Link. As soon as Sheik saw him he began to wake up, standby mode flicked to all systems go with everything running at maximum capacity. He stumbled at first as he began to run to towards Link, but the unsteadiness didn't last long and fleet feet made short work of the distance. He threw himself onto the other boy and they tumbled to the ground together. It hurt but Sheik didn't care. He pressed their faces together in a kiss that contained exactly zero skill but a wealth of passion.

Eventually and reluctantly, they parted after pushing the kiss to the edge of asphyxiation. Link smiled up at Sheik. He wasn't sure what would happen to him if Sheik kept launching surprise kisses at him like this. The way it made his heart race he worried that at some point it would just burst.

`Hello.'

Link desperately wished that he'd had something better to say, something charming and funny and sincerely heartfelt, but he hadn't. Sheik rested his head on Link's chest, speaking into the folds of Link's tunic,

`I missed you.'

However cold and distant the rest of the world thought Sheik was Link knew that they were wrong. To Link the Sheikah boy was like a storm stuffed in a matchbox. Giant tidal waves of emotion compressed and packed into such a small container, convincing the world that it was plain and uninteresting. Part of Link was happy that it was only him that saw Sheik like this, and he wondered if perhaps that was because he was the one that made Sheik like this. Sheik certainly made Link feel things no one else did. He knew the only thing that was keeping him from putting them both on Epona and riding away from this, from Hyrule and all its troubles, was the fact that both had too strong a sense of duty.

`I missed you too.'

Link put his arms around Sheik gently, not wanting a repeat of the last time he'd tried to hold him. They stayed there for a while, laying the damp grass of the graveyard, just feeling one another breathe, reminding themselves that they were both alive.

`Was it awful?' Sheik asked as he untangled himself from Link and sat up gingerly.

`Was what awful?'

`That,' Sheik pointed into the temple, `was it bad?'

Link sat up, he didn't really want to talk about the things in the temple, he didn't want to worry Sheik, but he didn't want to lie either.

`Yeah, it was.'

Sheik looked down, then reached forwards, pulling Link into a hug,

`I'm sorry.'

Link buried his face into the crook of Sheik's neck, `what for?'

`For making you go in there. For making you do all these things. I'm really sorry.'

Sheik had gathered fistfuls of Link's tunic, holding them as tightly together as he could manage. He was shaking, he'd always felt guilty for the things he asked Link to do, but until now he hadn't had the courage to ask if things were as bad as he thought they were. He wasn't really sure what had made him ask now. Maybe it was because, now the two of them were aware of what they meant to each other, he had given himself permission to show Link just how much he cared. Now there would be no more walls, no more hiding, no need to conceal how fragile he could be.

Link didn't just take away the emptiness in Sheik. He had destroyed the cold Sheikah mask Sheik had worn and he taught him how to feel again. It had been so long that Sheik had forgotten he could be like this. He was sure that he was strong enough to destroy worlds if Link needed him to, and yet he felt that just one more of Link's heart fluttering smiles would unravel him completely. When all this was done, when both of them could set duty aside, the only thing Sheik wanted was to never have to be away from Link again. When this was over, never again would Sheik just sit and wait for Link to battle through the darkness, instead he would stand beside him.

Link gently pushed on Sheik's shoulders, separating them, `don't apologise. You have nothing to apologise for.'

`But-' Sheik started but Link cut him off,

`No. This isn't your fault, it's never been your fault and . . . and it isn't mine either.' Link felt quiet anger rising in him, `neither of us started this, neither of us asked for this, we're just the ones being forced to clean up the mess. Look at me and tell me exactly what is what that you did that made all this happen.'

Sheik didn't say anything.

`Exactly. Other people did stuff and then, when they fucked up, they came and told us we had to sort it out. You're just as much a prisoner of circumstance as I am. You didn't choose be the one who guided me to the temples, someone told you that you had to. Just like someone told me I had to fight the things in them.' Link rested a hand on Sheik's cheek `all this just got dumped on us, and we both understood that the only real way out was just to put up with it, to just get it over and done with. You're not the one who has to say sorry.'

Sheik smiled wanly at Link, `Thank you. It's stupid, once it was me telling you this wasn't your fault, and now you're having to do the same for me.' He let out a humourless chuckle, 'It's just, all the things in my mind, I can't turn them off and it always seems like I end up coming to the conclusion that everything is my fault even when . . . even when it clearly isn't.'

`I know, I understand,' a kiss fluttered onto Sheik's forehead, 'but it's nearly over, it's nearly done and then, we can just concentrate on living, like normal people. No more of this magical, heroic quest shit, right?'

Sheik nodded emphatically, once this was over they were done, that was it. They may agree that the things they had to do to save Hyrule were necessary but unpleasant but at least the quest had brought them together. Link slid his hand into Sheik's,

`Can you stay, here, tonight, with me?'

Link's eyes were bright, hopeful. Sheik sighed heavily, his face contorting into an unhappy frown.

`I can't. Now you've cleared out the temple there are things I have to do, and, as ever, they won't wait.'

Sheik rolled his eyes, he wanted to stay, Goddesses, he wanted to stay. Part of his brain was already imagining the things that could have happened if he had been able to. The mental images were starting to make him uncomfortably aware of his crotch.

Link chewed his lip in disappointment. He was looking forward to being able to sleep properly and the idea of doing so while holding Sheik had been one of the thoughts that had kept him going in the temple. Thinking about it stirred up sensations that Link couldn't name, they reminded him of the dreams he had about Sheik sometimes. In response to a growing desire to touch him, Link leaned forward and hesitantly initiated a kiss for the first time in his life. His lips ghosted over Sheik's before pressing down more firmly. Hands tangled into hair and their bodies pressed together, mimicking the movement of their lips.

Link leaned back, still holding Sheik's hand, `together again soon though?'

Sheik nodded, `soon.'


	7. Chapter 7

Soon came and went. Link was becoming increasingly frustrated by how long they had been apart. It seemed not only unfair but improbable that there was no one else in all of Hyrule capable of saving people. Couldn't someone else have rescued those carpenters? The lack of bridge was no skin off Link's nose, he had a Longshot. But no, it had to be him, and then he had to deal with those women. They weren't really all that bad and it was kind of refreshing to be around people who laughed in the face of prim and proper. What he did have a problem with however, was their penchant for groping him. From the things the carpenters had said these women should have excited him, instead he felt uncomfortable. It wasn't their hands he wanted.

When he'd set off to cross the desert he was looking forward to some peace, some time alone, not that the crossing was peaceful. The sand storms were relentless, so much so that he could barely see or breathe. The Gerudo may have told him to follow the path between the flags but they'd still let him wander into the desert woefully underprepared. The breaths he did manage to take felt like they were cooking him from the inside. He stumbled along, arm held in front of his face, trying to protect him from the abrasions of airborne sand. It was already hell and he hadn't even reached the temple yet.

Eventually the storms died down, it was bliss to be able to see without squinting and to breathe freely. He found himself in a sunken portion of the desert, cliffs stretching up on all sides. But there, arching into the sky and far taller than the cliffs, was what must be the temple. Link started towards it, watching for enemies as much as he was watching for Sheik. Surely they would meet again, here, at the temple entrance just like before? The only things he met, however, were leevers.

Link stood, staring back out into the desert, on the temple steps for a good five minutes, waiting. He sighed, turning back to the entranceway, jaw clenched tight. He tried to pretend his hands weren't shaking, that it didn't hurt, but hey, what was a promise between lovers, or friends, or two mutually attracted parties, or whatever the hell they were, right? And, what were they? What was Sheik to Link, or for that matter was what was he to Sheik? He had technically proposed back in Kakariko but it had been meant more like a confession and Link wasn't even sure two men could get married. Not that Link needed the blessing of an official figure to feel comfortable sending his life with Sheik.

Is that what he wanted, to spend his life with Sheik? The idea made his breath hitch, and it felt good to think about, somewhere between static shocks and sliding into a warm bath. He thought about what it would be like, to spend a lifetime getting to know the Sheikah boy, to stay beside him and just live, like normal people. It was definitely what Link wanted, and he wanted it an awful lot. But maybe, whispered the parts of him that were wounded by Sheik's absence, he was the only one.

He cast his eyes over the desert one last time before turning and heading into the temple. Even if his heart did feel like lead someone had taken a hammer to, denting the soft metal like clay, he still had his duty to carry out. Except he couldn't, not as he was. The only things he found in the room were a block he couldn't move and a crawl space he couldn't fit in. He growled in frustration, viciously punching the immovable block. Everything was terrible. Pain rippled up recently set fingers, he hissed, cradling his hand against his chest.

Then, without warning, waves of guilt crashed over him. Sheik had reset these fingers, had held his hand so gently as he'd splinted and bandaged them, and here he was, undoing all that careful work. Here he was, hurting himself again. Link closed his eyes; the memories of that night were raw and vivid. He'd never let go like that before, never let his anger and fear win out like that, he'd never been so honest before. He'd expected Sheik to scold him, to tell him he was being childish, pathetic.

Thinking about it, it seemed like his feelings had crept up on him, growing slowly from the time they first met, snaking through his being until they bloomed. But then again, he could swear that it was that night that he fell, there and then and all at once, to the tune of desperate, quite, heartfelt apologies. Maybe it was both. Maybe it was stupid to even try and set such an ethereal thing as feelings to such a logical thing as a time line. Thinking about it made his head swim. It was so easy to be distracted, to just think about Sheik and how warm he felt and the way that holding him made Link ache.

He huffed out a breath. He had to keep himself together, had to dam up his feelings again. He couldn't yo-yo around between hurt feelings and anger and lovey-dovey daydreams like this just because Sheik hadn't shown up and this temple was immediately conquerable. He had to settle himself, he had to think. It was obvious there was nothing he could do in here so, after one last look around, he left. He walked back down the steps and turned to stare back at the temple, searching for another way in. He jumped out of his skin when he heard the soft paff of something hitting the sand behind him. He reacted automatically, whipping round and drawing his sword, which he promptly dropped.

`Sheik!'

Link scrambled over the sand between them, and pulled Sheik into the tightest hug he could manage. He loved the way they fit together, loved the way Sheik smelt of hot skin and linen and aloe, he loved how it felt to press his body against Sheik's, and the thrill of thinking about how it would feel if it was just skin against skin. He released his grip gently, stepping back so he could look at Sheik properly.

`Hello Link.' Sheik looked a little dazed, he was covered in sand and dust and one of his eyebrows had been split.

`Goddesses, what happened to you?'

Link brought his hands up, one to Sheik's cheek, the fingers of the other hovering around the cut on above his eye.

`Ah, there were leevers, lots of them, and I didn't see them through the sand storm until it was too late. But Link, listen, you have to go back to the Temple of Time and become a child again and then come back, oh, and I'll teach you the song so you can get here, I'll just get my lyre.'

Sheik spoke quickly, tripping over his words, unusually hurried. He turned, dislodging Link's hands, and started unpacking his lyre. Link's arms dropped to his sides, and when Sheik turned back towards him ready to play, Link just stared blankly back.

`You're sending me away. We been apart for two weeks and you're just sending me away?'

Link's voice cracked as he spoke, hurt and hysteria worming their way into his words. Sheik stared at him, eyes wide over his cowl,

`Oh Goddesses,' he breathed out, `no, no, ah, well, yes but' he screwed his face up, turning it towards the sky before letting out a long, low `fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!'

Sheik took a little time to make sure his breathing was steady. He was an idiot, a giant dodongo's arse of an idiot.

`Link. . . I'm really sorry. I don't want you to go,' he bit his lip, hard, `I want to stay here with you, in the stupid sand filled shithole and make up for being apart. Did you know that two weeks is 20160 minutes, I counted, all of them, it was awful.' He looked at Link, who didn't seem overly convinced, `It's just that, what with the storm and the leevers, I'm late. I was supposed to be here two days ago but I think I spent them going in circles. A-and this is the last one, we're nearly done, I just. . . I just want this to be over.'

He looked at Link, lip clamped beneath his teeth again. Silence. Link didn't answer; he just stared back at him. The longer the silence went on the harder Sheik pressed his teeth into his lip, until,

`Ah, shit.'

Sheik pulled his cowl away from his face, pressing his fingers to the wound. Blood stared to dribble down his chin, he wiped it away. Hands found their way to his cheeks, cupping his face gently. Lips found their way to his, kissing away the blood. Sheik felt himself relax. He dropped his lyre onto the sand and moved to press his body into Link's. The kisses were careful and tasted of salt and metal. His hands cast themselves over Link, creating his own atlas of touch. They found broad shoulders, a strong, straight back, a well-defined chest and sharp hips. They hesitated then, desperate to move further down, to take in round buttocks, muscular thighs and the things held between them, but wary, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.

A twitch of indecision lead fingers to ghost over the top of a thigh. Guttural noises bubbled from Link's throat and he thought he'd made a terrible mistake, his hands withdrew, floating in empty space, unsure. Then he felt himself be bodily lifted up, and his back pressed against the upright pillar of the stone arch. His legs wrapped themselves around Link's waist and his hands tangled themselves into his hair. The kisses weren't careful anymore. They were forceful, open mouthed affairs, with tongues soliciting one another into complex dances.

Sheik couldn't breathe, couldn't think, he could only feel. There was no hiding what this was doing to his body, no escaping the desperate trills he made when Link pressed them together. He wanted more. His hands wanted to explore the places they'd shied away from earlier. His lips and tongue wanted to follow in his hands wake, to kiss and taste every inch of available skin. His crotch wanted more than occasional, accidental contact. He wanted more.

Link pulled back, Sheik whined, his breathing was heavy and his blue eyes were the brightest that Sheik had ever seen them.

`Will you be here when I come back?'

Sheik stared at him, his mind too foggy and body too demanding for him to take in the question. Link repeated himself,

`Will you be here when I come back, after I've sorted out whatever it is I have to do?'

`You're leaving?' Sheik was scandalised, `don't go.' He leaned forward, trying to catch Link in another kiss but failed.

`Hey, you were the one that wanted me to leave straight away just not.'

Link chuckled as he spoke but it was clear he was still hurt by what had happened. Sheik squirmed uncomfortably,

`Yes, but that was before you kissed me and before . . .' he looked down pointedly, Link following his gaze, making them both blush all the way up to the tips of their ears. Link let go of Sheik, putting him down carefully.

`To you, my dear, I'll only be gone for moments. Now, teach me this song.'


	8. Chapter 8

Sheik sat in the sand, back against the stone arch. Link had left only a minute ago and Sheik's body was feeling the loss keenly. He was little embarrassed by how enthusiastically his body had responded to their heated kissing just now. He squirmed around, trying to find a position that made his bodysuit feel less tight over his lingering erection. There was no way to hide it when you were wearing skin tight leather which had made for an awkward goodbye. He'd done his best to pretend it wasn't there and Link had too, except his eyes had kept drifting down to it. Things had been much less awkward for Link, whose tunic covered any potential bulges.

Sheik let out a frustrated snort, head in his hands. He badly wanted to go back to being wrapped tightly around Link, perhaps horizontally and with fewer clothes. Not that he wasn't perfectly okay with the idea of doing it standing up. This was a thing that had never been mentioned in the books he'd read as a boy. They'd always painted love as a good, pure thing, which it definitely could be, but Sheik felt that leaving out the desire and need and the kind of dreams that lonely nights could conjure was a gross oversight. He was in love and it made him feel giddy and light and certainly made him want to protect and care for Link just like the heroes in book. But good Goddesses, he wanted that boy to bang him like a door in a hurricane. The juxtaposition of feelings made him laugh.

Sheik looked up at the desert again, and everything was different but exactly the same. Had that plant always been there? An unnatural wind picked up a few feet from Sheik, creating a very localised sandy vortex. It died as suddenly as it had begun, all the sand dropping away instantaneously, and emerging from the midst of it all, was Link. Sheik pushed himself to his feet, wobbling a little when the soft sand gave way beneath him.

`You're back!'

He pounced, all sinuous muscle like a big cat, and they fell to the sand. He kept his face hovering a few inches above Link's, feeling pleasingly powerful straddling him like this. He slid his knees out, letting his body drop slowly, pressing them together. Link cocked an eyebrow at him, lips curling at the corners,

`It's nice to see you too.'

Link moved in, closing the gap between their mouths, Sheik followed his lead, closing his eyes. Then, the world flipped. Sheik snapped his eyes back open. He was on his back, Link grinning down at his wolfishly. Sheik forgot how to breathe. Heavens above and Hells below, this was more than he could take.

`There's an oasis over there, we could swim,' Link waved his head in the general direction.

`Wha- what?'

`Swim, you know, in water and stuff.'

`Umm, yes, of course.'

Sheik smiled back and really hoped that the water was going to be very cold. Link rolled off him and stood up, holding out a hand to help him up. Sheik took it and was pulled to his feet. For the second time today he found himself trying to pretend the conspicuous lump in his bodysuit wasn't there.

Link kept his hand wrapped round Sheik's and set off for the oasis, pulling the other boy along with him. He was hoping that the swim would help settle the butterflies that had invaded his stomach when Sheik had straddled him. It had taken a lot of effort to not peel Sheik out of his clothes there and then. The idea of actually doing it made Link blush.

When they got to the oasis it was dry, dead and sad. Sheik gave Link a confused look, he responded by holding up his ocarina. The first few notes of the song of storms called the clouds, they scudded across the sky, coalescing and roiling above them. The next notes brought the rain. It thundered down, soaking them to the skin, filling the air with the smell that only came with rain on hot earth. The water ran off the sand and collected in the oasis. Sheik stood, arms outstretched, face turned skyward, laughing in the improbable rain. Link continued to play, a smile dragging on the corners of his lips. The last notes stopped the downpour and sent the clouds away. They were left steaming gently under the desert sun.

As the rainwater continued to drain into the basin of the oasis little fuzzy edged balls of light began to emerge. The fairies darted across the water's surface like luminescent dragonflies. Sheik followed their movements,

`Are they . . . ?' The end of the question disappeared but Link knew was being asked.

`Yeah, they must have hidden when this place dried up and now the water's back so are they.'

`I've never seen any before. Can we still swim here?'

`Fairy folk are pretty friendly so I don't see why not.'

Sheik started stripping as quickly as he could, dropping soaking bandages to the sand. Once his wrappings were gone he began to undo a series of hidden fastenings on his bodysuit. The wet leather proved difficult to take off, Link watched as a bare, well-toned chest emerged. When the curve of pelvic bones stared to appear he found himself having to look away, face burning like the sun. When he looked back Sheik was wading out into the oasis in nothing but his underwear. Link waited until those perfect buttocks disappeared beneath the water before beginning to undress himself.

Sheik waded in until the water reached chest height. He reckoned that in the middle the surface would be perhaps two feet above his head. One of the fairies floated over to him, he held out a hand to it. It stood on his finger, head cocked. After looking at him for a minute or so it took off again, flying closer. It hovered, wings beating like a humming bird's, just in front of his face. It reached out, laying tiny hands on the cut on his lip. The skin felt like it was humming. When the buzzing faded the fairy retreated, staring at him a little while longer before flying away.

Sheik heard the water behind him move,

`That was kind of her.' He turned, finding Link there.

`Do they often heal people?'

`Those that need it, yes.' Link looked up at the dancing lights, `they've saved my life before.'

`Then I owe them a great debt.' Sheik wrapped his arms around Link's waist, reveling in the feel of bare skin under his palms. `If they hadn't, I wouldn't be able to do this,'

He leaned in and trailed kisses from Link's mouth down along his jaw and neck. Link hummed approvingly, tracing abstract patterns over Sheik's back.

`Maybe we'd be better off on dry land?'

As much as Sheik was enjoying being in the water he had to agree with Link. He slowly unwound himself from Link, somewhat unwilling to let go. Fingers twined themselves with his and he let Link pull him back to the sand. When they waded free of the water Link began collecting their forgotten belongings and still damp clothes. Sheik looked over at the temple's edifice.

`Everything alright?' Link came to stand beside him.

`Every time I look at it I can't help feeling like I'm keeping you from something more important.'

Link stared blankly at the temple, `I'm not sure there's anything in the world more important than you, but I know what you mean.'

Sheik didn't reply for a little while. However off hand Link's comment seemed, no words had ever made him happier.

`Don't tell Zelda that, she'll give her lecture on the greater good. She throws things at you if she thinks you aren't listening.'

`Is that knowledge from personal experience?'

Sheik chuckled, `I was something of a captive audience.'

`Well, I think I may have a solution.'

Link put his ocarina to his lips, this time playing the song of the sun. Sun set and moon rise whipped passed, the sky staining with colours that moved like ink in water.

`There, it's night now. I couldn't possibly go into a temple at night, it'd be terribly dangerous.'

The sincerity of Link's reasoning was diminished slightly by the grin that was threatening to take over his face. Sheik tried not to smile back at him,

`No, you couldn't possibly. It would be an awful idea.'

They just looked at each other, each one trying to keep a straight face. Link's lips kept twitching at the corners, and Sheik found that watching someone else try not to laugh made it harder to do the same yourself. He bit his lip. Link screwed his face up, suppressed laughter shaking his body. Sheik punched him in the shoulder,

`Stop it. You'll make me split my lip again.'

Link's convulsions settled a little, he looked up through his lashes at Sheik,

`Then I'll just have to kiss it better again.'

A shudder ran up Sheik's spine, making his heart thunder and his loins ache. He turned away, towards where Link had placed their things beneath one of the trees that surrounded the oasis, even though the darkness hid his blush.

`Come on, we should start a fire, desert nights are cold.'

He almost didn't here Link purr `but I'll keep you warm.' Maybe they wouldn't need a fire. Maybe Sheik's burning face would do the job.

Finding dry wood for the fire wasn't hard, plenty of the oasis trees had shed branches, and Link set them alight with Din's fire. They settled next to each other, backs against the same tree trunk. Fingers curled around other fingers, and their hands rested between them, intertwined. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before the need to touch Sheik became too much for Link to hold back. He took hold of Sheik's chin, gently turning the other boy's face towards him. He leaned in, his first kiss falling feather light. His hand slid up and around, tangling into dark blonde hair, his next kiss had their lips crashing together.

The transition from sweet and gentle to demanding and forceful broke Sheik. He moaned into the kiss. Link responded by capturing Sheik's tongue with his own. Sheik twisted his body, turning himself more towards him. A hand threaded itself around his waist, pulling him onto Link's lap. His thigs splayed either side of the young hero. The hand at the back of his head pulled down, stretching out his neck and breaking the kiss. Sheik's whine morphed into a gasp as lips worked their way across his jaw and neck and shoulder. Hands danced down his back, pausing to take in the contours of his hips before asserting ownership of his arse.

Heaving bare chest against heaving bare chest, they moved in synchronicity. The lines between what was one and what was the other began to blur. One pair of hips ground down to meet the other. Sheik mewled when his own hardness rubbed against Link's. Firm hands on his hips made him repeat the movement. The grinding made Sheik's head spin. His breaths came short and sharp and the world around him was dissolving. He moaned, breath hot against Link's ear,

`Fuck me.'

Hands dropped from his hips. Movement stopped. The world crashed out of solution. He leaned back. Link wasn't looking at him.

`I don't know how.' Link mumbled into the darkness, `I mean, my body does all these things and I keep thinking stuff and I . . . I don't know how.'

Sheik sighed, suddenly Link's decisions earlier, first to leave and then to go swimming, made sense. He was scared. He was scared and he didn't properly understand what was going on. Sheik felt like an idiot for not putting it all together sooner.

`Nobody talked you about this stuff did they? They just let you wake up after seven years and left you to it.'

`I don't know, not really I guess. When I woke up there was all this stuff in my head. It was like someone had tried to make a list of things I'd need to know and just dumped it all in my mind. Some of it's pretty useful. I know more about fighting now, and a whole lot more words and why we get seasons and what makes weather happen and things like that. But then, some of it seems pointless, like, I know how to calculate areas of triangles, which I really don't think I need to know. I mean, how does that help me?' Link threw his hands in the air, and Sheik chuckled, he'd felt the same when he had learnt mathematics. `I know some things about this stuff. I know. . . I know where babies come from and stuff, but it's like whoever put all this stuff in my head got embarrassed, so it's all kind of vague and there isn't anything about how two boys do it.'

Sheik gave him a conciliatory smile, taking Link's hand in his own.

`To be honest, I not sure anyone really knows how this stuff works until they try it but, doing it for real kind of scares me and, theoretically, I know how this works.' He used his other hand to push some hair away from Link's face, `maybe we can work it out together, later, when everything is back to normal?'

Link nodded, `I'd like that.'

`We should sleep. You have a lot to do tomorrow.'


	9. Chapter 9

After a night spent curled around one another Link and Sheik parted ways on the temple steps, Link into the colossal building and Sheik back to the oasis, to wait. Despite the amount of time he spent doing it, he wasn't any better at waiting. He paced, unwound and rewound his wrist wraps, and stared at the temple entrance, looping through the activities over and over again. Night, when it came, proved even harder to deal with. He tried to sleep but couldn't. Memories of the night before and a painful awareness that he was alone made it impossible. He watched the sun rise.

Dawn saw him back to the previous day's routine. He wasn't sure how many repeat cycles he'd been through when he found himself mobbed by the fairies. The fluttered around his head, some placing hands on the bags forming under his eyes, others showing him pieces of food they'd wrestled out of his bag. He took the hint and sat down, letting the tiny beings drop their morsels into his hands. Once they'd dropped their cargo they landed on any available perch his body offered.

He started to eat the bits of bread, and dried meat and fruit he'd been given. A fairy trotted down his forearm, pausing at his wrist, looking down at food and then back at him. He offered it a cranberry. It took it, needing both hands to hold it properly. Another one landed on his thumb, and left with a piece of date. Before long he'd distributed all the dried fruit he had to his new friends.

The only reason he noticed the shadow that fell over him was because the fairies scattered the moment it appeared. They abandoned the perches they'd found, disappearing into the safe cover of the trees. Sheik looked up,

`Impa.'

She looked down at him, blank, emotionless, `You've gotten slow Sheik. A proper Sheikah would have heard my approach.'

He looked away, nearly telling her that he hadn't slept, but he knew the reason wouldn't cut it. He had failed, there was no excuse.

`Where is the Hero?'

`In the temple, he entered it yesterday.'

`Good,' Impa cast her eyes toward the temple entrance, `there are things I must discuss with you.'

A new kind of worry began to pool in Sheik's stomach. Impa did not discuss things, not with him.

It didn't bother him that she was so cold to him, but never to Zelda. He was cold to everyone. Except, that wasn't true anymore, he would never be, could never be, cold to Link. Maybe that was the way Sheikah were, cold to the world except for one they loved more than all others. He stood up, bowing slightly to his teacher and surrogate mother. She inclined her head in response. The older Sheik got the more formal they were with each other. Impa cleared her throat,

`It has been made clear to us that soon, the Princess will be in danger. Now, even more so than ever, Ganondorf searches for her. He will catch her, it cannot be prevented. But, as you know, the Princess and the Hero must meet in the Temple of Time before the final battle.' Sheik nodded. When the time came he was to take Link there, reuniting him with Zelda. `The only way to ensure the Princess' freedom, and to make sure the meeting happens, is to allow Ganondorf to capture a fake.'

`I see,' it seemed a reasonable plan to Sheik, `you plan on finding someone to swap identities with Zelda, and then on leading Ganondorf to the false princess.'

`Indeed, allowing the Princess to reveal herself to the Hero and to aid him in the final battle.'

`Who will take Zelda's place?'

He should have known, as soon as she didn't answer right away. He should have known.

`You.' Impa fidgeted, unusually displaying her discomfort. `You will become Zelda and she will become you and you will stay as such until she meets the Hero and resumes her normal form. At which point . . . at which point your disguise will also be undone and . . . and . . .'

`And Ganondorf will kill me.' He'd never seen Impa flinch before, but she did when he spat out the words.

`There is no other way for this to work Sheik. It has to be like this.' She was pleading with him. Impa, the greatest warrior he knew, was pleading with him. `We tried to find another way. We've spent years looking for another solution, but . . . but there just isn't one.'

`Years? I thought you said you'd only just found out.' He was shaking, fists clenched. This was not happening. `How long? How long have you known that you'd send me to my death?'

`Since the moment I first met you. I held you and the Goddesses came to me. They told me what would happen. They said it was your purpose.' She wasn't looking at him; patches of sand at her feet were wet.

`My purpose? You're telling me that I was born to die at the hands of a tyrant?' He was crying, hot, angry tears dribbling down his face and falling onto even hotter sand. `You're the closest thing I have to a mother and you're sending me to die.'

She spoke, whisper quite, to the sand, `I am your mother, and I wish I'd never brought you into this world.'

He knees gave way. He hit the sand and curled in on himself. Ugly sobs wracked his body. Seventeen years' worth of tears forced their way out of him.

`Why?' He screamed into the sand, `why did you lie to me?' His voice cracked with anger and pain, raw and aching and oceans deep.

She stared at the horizon, wet trails shining on her cheeks. `I thought . . . I thought if I raised you as if you weren't mine it would make this easier. I . . . I was wrong. I was so wrong.'

The desert rang with the sound of his heart breaking. He had finally found the only things he'd ever wanted. He had found the one who eased his emptiness, the one who filled him up with feeling, the one who he had promised himself to. He had found his mother, who had been standing in plain sight all his life, and now, now he had to give them up. But Impa was right, there was no other way. The Goddesses had woven the path of his life, and it could not be undone.

He looked up at her, `if I don't do this, everything he's done, and everything he's been through will be for nothing. If I don't do this, I doom us all.'

She nodded.

`Do I get to say goodbye to him?'

She shook her head.

`I'm scared. I don't want to go. Don't make me go. Mama, I'm scared.'

She fell to her knees, beside him in the sand, and wrapped her arms around him.

`I'm sorry, my sweet one, I'm so sorry.'


	10. Chapter 10

`Where is he?'

She shrank back from him as he yelled at her. `Please, Link, enough.'

`No. Not until you tell me where he is.'

`He isn't anywhere, he wasn't real, Link. It was just me.'

`You're lying.'

`No, I'm not.'

Her heart was breaking, standing there, lying through her teeth.

In the aftermath of Ganon's death she had crept through the wreckage of the castle, her faithful bodyguard in tow. They searched for hours in the rubble, twisting ankles and tearing apart fingertips, until they found him. He was dyed red with blood, his limbs twisted at unnatural angles, and his eyes were blank. They wept, cradling him, whispering apologies into unhearing ears. They buried him in a quiet, secret place and planted flowers around his grave. His tombstone was a sapling. That night a requiem rang through the castle, no one knew who it was for, or who sang it.

Now, she was attending to his final wish. One he had entrusted to her as they prepared to exchange faces. He had asked her to never let the Hero, his Hero, know what fate had made him do. He had asked her to tell these lies, he had said it was better the Hero believe he had been a lie, and for him to come to hate that lie, than to bear the pain of loss. This way, Link might find happiness with another, instead of spending his life in mourning. It was taking all her strength not to cry.

`If he wasn't real, if it was you all along, then tell me what this is. Tell me where it came from and what it means. Tell me what I said when I took it from you.'

He held his hand out to her, one thumb sized crystal lying in his palm. The twin of the one they had buried with Sheik. She had no words for him, no stories or explanations, only sorrow.

`I knew it.' Tears ran from eyes as blue as the sky, `please, please just tell me where he is.'

She took him to the clearing in the copse, newly abloom. He fell to the earth, curling up next to the sapling. She let him cry himself out.

She stood in the Temple of Time, ocarina in hand. There had to be another way. There had to be another life, one where the sadness didn't drag them all to the bottom of an ocean of despair. She played the notes and everything unravelled. The tapestry of time would be woven anew.


End file.
